Brett Gotcher Focused on Houston 2011 and Then Olympic Trials

FLAGSTAFF (20-Dec) -- Brett Gotcher, who ran the third-fastest marathon
by an American in 2010, definitely prefers flannel to lycra. At a
luncheon last Friday at a local restaurant here, he looked more like a
logger than a runner in his red and orange flannel shirt. His long
blond hair and scruffy beard completed his lumberjack look.

"That would be cool," he replies when a visitor to this Arizona mountain
town surrounded by towering Ponderosa pines jokes that someone could
make a flannel running uniform. "I'd like that."

Gotcher, 26, has emerged as the unlikely leader of the 14-member Team
USA Arizona coached by Greg McMillan here. He was not a star when he
ran for Stanford University (in his senior year in 2007 he finished just
25th in the NCAA championships at 10,000m and had a modest personal
best of 28:51.65). But under McMillan, his only post-collegiate coach,
Gotcher has learned that he has a special talent for the long run. His
2:10:35 at Houston last January was only surpassed this year by two of
his better-known American compatriots: Olympians Ryan Hall (2:08:41) and
Meb Keflezighi (2:09:26).

"It's gone pretty well," Gotcher said, summarizing his year. "I've seen
some more breakthroughs on the track, and I PR'd in the 10-K, and
continued having some success on the roads. But, ever since running
that first marathon, that's all I've been thinking about along the way,
and really looking forward to getting another crack at it."

Under McMillan, Gotcher has brought down his 10,000m personal best to
28:09.21, his 20-K to 58:57 (he won the national title at that distance
in 2009), and his half-marathon to 1:02:09. He also made the national
teams for the IAAF World Half-Marathon and Cross Country championships
in 2009. Those were all solid achievements, but it was last January's
marathon performance that put Gotcher's name on the lips of fans,
journalists and statisticians.

"Brett's been here three and a half years now," McMillan explained. He
continued: "One of the things we've done, and you're seeing it with
Brett since he's kind of the longest one here, we're trying to make a
career out of this thing. We're trying to make smart decisions."

Gotcher, and another seven Team USA Arizona athletes, are getting ready
for the Chevron Houston Marathon on Sunday, January 30. His closest
peer in the training group here is Irish Olympian Martin Fagan, who will
also be running Houston. The two completed an important tempo run last
Saturday, and Gotcher feels that he can definitely lower his time from
last year in the right conditions.

"I feel like there is more in the tank there," he said of his marathon
debut 11 months ago. "I was definitely spent, but I saw how close I
could get to running a faster time that deep into the race. So, I kind
of had that taste fresh in my mouth, and was just looking forward go
taking another crack at it to really, really go for it again."

Right after his success at Houston last year, Gotcher and McMillan began
working on how he could improve in his next effort. Gotcher definitely
had the endurance, but the marathon is a race of small details, a very
"technical event" as Paul Tergat once said.

"When Brett finished, he and I both started talking about four or five
or ten things you could do different to run faster," McMillan said.
"Because even when you have your best race, you're always able to point
out several things that can make you go faster."

One thing the pair has focused on was whether Gotcher was getting enough
calories during the race, something which the athlete said he hadn't
thought much about a year ago.

"I think one of the big things is fueling," Gotcher intoned. "I had
never really run races which required fueling before, and I don't think I
really took it seriously enough. So, that's one thing I've really been
experimenting with leading into this next one, and hoping that I can
get a system down that allows me to feel strong throughout the entire
race. I think that's going to make a huge difference."

Gotcher bypassed the chance to run a fall marathon, and decided to focus
on Houston as a way to prepare best for the 2012 Olympic Trials
Marathon which will be held there on a different, criterium course.
McMillan said that staying on the January to January training cycle
would give Gotcher, and his other athletes, a better chance at Trials
success.

"So, with our athletes like Brett and Alvina (Begay), who had performed
well last year at the same time, we stay on the same cycle that we'll
need for 2012," McMillan said. "It's very good practice for us to know
what to do in August, September, October, November, December. And for
our young athletes, it gives them a chance to hopefully get their
qualifier and still go back to the track and work on that. And the same
for these guys who can work on short distance."

Gotcher realizes that he's still very new to the marathon, and that
there will be bumps in the road as he moves toward the physical peak
male marathoners usually enjoy four to six years from now. But with an
Olympic team to make just 13 months from now, Gotcher is taking an
aggressive approach.

"I think we have a great plan set up. It all worked out last year and a
lot of it is just coming down to the day, how you're feeling that day.
Like Greg said, just kind of changing your mindset to believe that you
can't run at that pace, and giving yourself a chance to do it. I think a
lot of guys maybe are a little bit too conservative to start off with.
That works for some people, but for us I just don't think we have time
with 2012 coming up. We want to make sure we make a name for ourselves
and have a legitimate shot at making the team."

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